Sandwiched between Naples Bay and the resort’s marina, Olio gives you a view with every table. Our server began our journey through sensory stimuli by putting words such as “Napa Valley,” “heirloom,”
“local,” and “light Italian” in our heads. Everything is fresh and freshly made, starting with an amuse-bouche of tangy tomato basil soup served in a white demitasse.

The wine list held some familiar vintages, but I decided to try a new-to-me grape, an Italian Falanghina, which, with hints of pear and peach, made a happy companion to the olives and chunks of Romano that came next. Crusty bread crunched as it gave way to a rustic inner texture. It came, of course, with olive oil, from which the restaurant takes its name. Already we were awed, and we hadn’t even ordered.

Source: Naples Illustrated, Author CHELLE KOSTER WALTON

The succession of taste sensations that followed took our senses to even higher planes. The Caesar salad’s halved head of romaine came boat-like, a vessel for the creamy dressing and a single marinated
 white anchovy. It rested upon a bed of grilled radicchio for added effect. The spicy shrimp and calamari small plate zinged with a scampi-style sauce enhanced with a bold combination of acidity (lemon) and heat (chile).

 The roasted snapper, beautifully glazed, rested atop a spread of velvety mashed potatoes rimmed with a rich pan-juice reduction. Its accompaniment of wine-soaked peach slices topped with crisp pancetta was
otherworldly. For the braised short ribs, the chef whipped sweet corn into the potatoes that underlaid fall-off-the-bone tender ribs in long-steeped juices thickened to perfection.

PLACE SETTING
Restaurant: Olio on Naples Bay
Hours: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily Food: Italian, California-style
Atmosphere: Eclectic, bright, casual; indoor and outdoor waterfront seating
Service: Knowledgeable and well-timed
Price: Lunch small plates, pizzettes, sandwiches, and entrées $9-$24; dinner appetizers $9-$14, entrées $21-$31
Address: 1490 Fifth Avenue South, Naples, olioonthebay.com
Telephone: 239-530-5110
Reservations: Yes
Children’s Menu: Yes
Bar Service: Full

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But when those lights will be installed, and how much it will cost the city, is up in the air.

The street, Community Redevelopment Director Russ Adams said, is dark, especially on the west end of the road, and the new system would provide “even more lighting up and down the street.”

It also would upgrade the power supply downtown, making Fifth Avenue South less prone to outages, he said.

Source: Naples Daily News

A new lighting system comes with a high cost, though.

While there is no exact estimate for the cost of installing new light fixtures on Fifth Avenue South, Adams said Friday that consultants have estimated it
could cost upwards of $1.7 million to revamp the whole street.

Where the money would come from is part of what’s holding up the installation of the lights.

City officials have said the city could borrow money from the city’s general fund to pay for the lighting. That money would then be paid back from the
CRA fund over several years.

Taking out a bank loan is an option, Naples City Manager Bill Moss told council last month. But Moss said a loan from the general fund could prove to
be more reliable in the future.

Finance Director Ann Marie Ricardi said a loan for $1.7 million in fixed income security “for four years is not that terrible.”

“It’s going to be paid back very quickly and in very large chunks,” she told council.

According to a CRA sustainability report, the money would be paid back over four years, with the largest sum, about $710,000, expected to come in fiscal 2011.

The hope is, however, that it won’t take four years to get new lights on Fifth Avenue South.

Council came to a consensus last month to work to complete the project in two fiscal years, if the project is deemed cost-effective. If the project
receives final approval, it could begin as early as this spring, Adams said.

The start of the project can’t come soon enough, said Lou Vlasho, president of the CRA’s advisory board.

Vlasho said new lighting on Fifth Avenue South is something that is desperately needed to attract more visitors to the street.

“It’s the only thing that I know right now that will make a big difference,” Vlasho said “We need a change on the street.”

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The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Naples Pier, and is expected to last about 20 minutes.

The city is expecting more than 25,000 people to fill Naples’ beaches.

Mike Leslie, the assistant Community Services director for Naples, said today as long as residents take to the beach they’ll have a good seat for the show.

“You can really see them anywhere on the beach,” he said. “The best parts are closer, between Lowdermilk Park and the pier.”

There will be no shuttle service to the beaches, and the city has an open parking plan. That means people can park in the rights of way, as long as they aren’t blocking driveways or stop signs.

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NAMB, with the support of Baker & Hostetler LLP and the Federal Policy Group, argues that the Final Rule is in violation of law, finalized on a flawed consumer testing methodology and will have a detrimental impact on small businesses consequently having a negative affect on consumers.

“HUD has failed to examine properly the Final Rule’s impact on small businesses,” said Marc Savitt, NAMB President. “It will put small business mortgage professionals at a significant competitive disadvantage, impeding competition in the mortgage industry and ultimately hurting consumers. What we are looking for is a level playing field for consumers.”

HUD was quick to react to the announcement that NAMB had filed the suit.

“In this housing market, the nation is crying out for reasonable regulation to help families shop for and save money on the largest purchase of their lives,” HUD commented. “This rule is that reasonable regulation and it helps consumers to avoid getting into trouble in the first place.  It’s mystifying why anyone would stand in the way of the kind of transparency this rule brings to the marketplace.”

The lawsuit against HUD states that the Final Rule is “arbitrary and capricious,” contrary to the intent of Congress, and fails to offer any rational reasons for its rejection of alternative approaches. The case alleges the Final Rule discriminates against mortgage brokers with the required broker-only disclosure of yield spread premium (YSP), placing them at a permanent disadvantage in the marketplace.

According to Savitt, the complaint includes a laundry list of the different government agencies that have had a problem with the proposed rule.

Savitt told RESPA News that HUD has disregarded numerous federal and private sector studies providing evidence that different origination channels disclosing differently confuses consumers, and will often times cause them to choose a more expensive mortgage product.

NAMB argues that consumer studies conducted by HUD failed to test both the consumer understanding of loan terms and comparative shopping when originator compensation was not disclosed, and disclosures in transactions involving competing originators.

“Flawed testing methodology prevented HUD from adequately assessing consumer understanding of provisions in the originally Proposed Rule,” Savitt said. This led to the Final Rule being issued on flawed and inaccurate conclusions, he added. 

“Reform of RESPA is necessary to accomplish a simplified mortgage process,” Savitt stated, “But implementing provisions harmful to small businesses and consumers in doing so, is not the answer.”

“The final rule is contrary to the intent of Congress,” Savitt told RESPA News. “HUD can’t reasonably justify this thing. Most importantly, it is not in the best interest of the public. They failed to offer any reasons for rejecting the alternatives we presented. Case in point: NAMB gave them a prototype of a one page GFE that was a mirror image of the HUD-1 settlement statement, which makes sense.”

Savitt contends HUD had every opportunity to “get this thing right” but in the end is failing the consumer.

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The plan announced by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman would speed up a process where financially distressed homeowners may request that a federal tax lien be made secondary to liens by the lending institution that is refinancing or restructuring a loan.

Taxpayers will also be able to ask the IRS to discharge, or remove, its claim to a property in certain circumstances where the property is being sold for less than the amount of the mortgage lien.

“We need to ensure that we balance our responsibility to enforce the law with the economic realities facing many American citizens today,” Shulman said, stressing that “we don’t want the IRS to be a barrier to people saving or selling their homes.”

He said the program will focus on those people who ordinarily pay their taxes in full but “because of these extraordinary times are getting behind in their tax payments.”

A tax lien occurs when the government makes a legal claim to property as security or payment for a tax debt. The government thus notifies other creditors that it has a claim on the property.

The IRS can rule that its lien will be secondary to another lien, such as that of a lending institution, if it determines that taking a subordinate position will ultimately help with the collection of the tax debt. Taxpayers or their representatives may apply for a “subordination” of a tax lien if they are refinancing or restructuring their mortgage.

Lending institutions generally want their lien to have priority on the home being used as collateral.

Taxpayers may also request a certificate of discharge if they are giving up ownership of the property at an amount less than the mortgage lien if the mortgage lien is senior to the tax lien. A discharge does not relieve a person of the tax that is owed, but it does remove the lien on a particular property such as a home. The IRS would still maintain its lien on other possessions of the taxpayer.

Normally it takes about 30 days to rule on a request for a discharge or subordination of a tax lien, but Shulman said the IRS will work to speed up that process so there would be no delays for people trying to obtain new mortgage loans. The IRS urged people to contact the agency’s Collection Advisory Group early in the home sale or refinancing process.

The agency said it issues more than 600,000 federal tax lien notices annually and that currently there are more than 1 million outstanding tax liens tied to both real and personal property.

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Below is some immediate information about refinancing rates being advertised:

- primary residences (but 2nd home rates are very close behind)
- loan amounts of $417,000 or below
- must have at least 20% equity as determined by a new appraisal (so a $417K loan means your   property must appraise at least at $521,250) or you will be paying mortgage insurance.  
Condo’s may require a bit more equity to qualify depending on the condo questionnaire answers.
- FICO scores of 740 get the best rates (rates incrementally increase as your score gets lower per new Fannie Mae rules this year)
- The rates you hear on TV/Internet are usually charging on average 6/10th of a point no matter what they tell you in their print advertisements so be wary. 
- All loan programs are FULL Doc loans these days for qualification.  There are no low/no doc loans anymore.  This means 2 year’s tax returns for everyone just like the old days
or the net income average of the two years if you are self-employed.  If you are a W-2 employee, you are qualified on your current base rate
and average your variable income (commission, OT, bonuses, etc.) for the past two years.

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Perry eagled No. 17 for the second day in a row, making a 15-foot putt that matched Weekley’s 18-footer to keep him and Hoch up four with one hole to play in the scramble format.

The eagle came one hole after Perry made an 8-footer for birdie after Hoch missed, keeping the duo comfortably ahead.

Weekley and Holmes, teammates with Perry on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, started the final round of the $2.9-million, 54-hole event trailing by four. They got to three back after birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and an eagle on the 14th. Weekley had a birdie putt roll around the cup and come back at him on No. 15.

Perry and Hoch build birdied Nos. 16 and 18, and eagled No. 17 on Saturday to build a four-shot lead. Perry made eight birdies and an eagle on his own ball in the better-ball format, and followed it up with another strong round while Hoch battled a bothersome left wrist.

The 48-year-old Perry, who won the tournament in 2005 with John Huston, split $730,000 with Hoch.

The 53-year-old Hoch became the oldest to win the event in its 20 years. Raymond Floyd was 51 when he won it with Steve Elkington in 1993.

Founder Greg Norman and Camilo Villegas had the lowest round of the tournament with a 15-under 57. They finished third at 25-under. The 57 was two off the tournament record, held by three teams. Norman and Steve Elkington shot a 57 in 2005.

Source: Golf.com

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The median price — the price at which half the homes sell for more and half for less – dropped 25 percent in November to $194,000, according to a monthly report by the Naples Area Board of Realtors. That was down from $325,000 a year ago.

The report is based on Realtor-assisted sales made through the SunshineMLS in Collier County, excluding Marco Island.

Total sales were up nearly 28 percent for the month. There were 293, compared to 229 a year ago.

Most of the activity continues to be in the under $300,000 market. In this category, there were 208 sales, up from 103 a year ago, and 340 pending sales, up from 114 last year.

Foreclosures and short sales _ sales made for less than the bank is owed to avoid foreclosure _ continue to drive many of the sales at the lower end.

“Prices are declining. But I see that decline slowing. Well-priced properties are going to sell based on today’s market,” said Tom Bringardner, president of Premier Properties of Southwest Florida Inc.

Through November there have been a total of 4,597 sales this year, up from 3,940 in the same months last year.

“People are not shying away from buying at all. They are just looking for the deals,” said Brett Brown, who officially becomes the new president for the Naples Area Board of Realtors Saturday night.

Last month, 196 single-family homes sold. Another 97 condominiums sold.

The report shows a decrease in the average number of days that homes are sitting on the market. The average dropped to 169, down 20 percent from 211 days a year ago.

For homes priced at less than $300,000, the average number of days on the market has declined to 154, down from 214 a year ago.

North Naples had the most sales in November at 1,173. Naples Beach came in second with 923.

Pending sales _ sales that have yet to close _ increased 54 percent last month to 473, up from 308 a year ago.

Lee County is seeing similar trends.

In November, single-family home sales made with the assistance of a Realtor increased 139 percent, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. There were 730 sales, including short sales and the sale of bank-owned homes.

While sales rose, prices continued to decline. The median price dropped to $105,000 in the Fort Myers market.

Pending sales _ those that have yet to close _ were at 1,591 last month, 128 percent ahead of last year.

Even with the busy holiday season, there are still many buyers out hunting for a home in Southwest Florida, area Realtors say.

“We are seeing an increase in showings right now pretty much across the board in Bonita Springs, in Naples and especially in Marco Island,” Bringardner said. “There is activity out there. There are people out there looking.”

“We are optimistic for the coming season,” he said.

Source: Naples daily News

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Whether you like boats, Christmas lights or both, this Neapolitan tradition brings the community together every year — and it’s a must see for both residents and visitors.

The Naples Bay Christmas Boat Parade will be held Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Naples City Dock. Both commercial and personal watercrafts will participate and, for the first time, a new category of restaurant-sponsored boats will float across the bay for your viewing pleasure.

Sponsored by the Marine Industries Association of Collier County, the 2008 theme is “Deck the Hulls with Holiday Lights.” Boat owners have shown incredible originality and ingenuity in past years, dressing up their boats as Christmas trees and Santa’s sleds among the others, and this year promises to be no different.

The boats will parade through Naples Bay in front of Tin City — a great spot to watch them go by and take some pictures and video — then back to the City Dock, where the parade judges will review the entrants and choose the winners. Want to have dinner or drinks while you enjoy the show? The Cove Inn, the Boat House Restaurant, Pincher’s Crab Shack, the Dock Restaurant and Riverwalk Restaurant all have great views of the path the boats will follow.

The annual event raises money for the Ricky King Children’s Fund, providing money for medical needs of less-fortunate children in the community.

And speaking of kids: Santa and Mrs. Claus will trade in their sleigh for the evening and will hitch a ride on the Sweet Liberty catamaran. So tell the kids to watch out, they’ll have a chance to catch a glimpse of Santa and his missus.

If you get tired of watching the boats go by, or if the winter night proves to be a little too chilly, Crayton Cove will be aglow in holiday lights and feature merchant open houses all evening.

– The 21st Annual Christmas Island Style Boat Parade on Marco Island is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20, giving you an entire week to plan ahead. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. on the Marco River and will continue into Collier Bay for a night of fun on the water. The Esplanade on the Bay is a prime viewing location, so get your cameras ready and enjoy another night of Christmas celebrations, Florida-style.

Source: Naples Daily News, Chiara Assi.

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